01/30/12

It's looking like the blog's gonna break 1500 views this week. I'm glad you keep coming back!

The Taste crew started getting heavier on the business end last week. Personally, I tagged along to some meetings, chatted with most of our band roster, & added more content to the Taste site. Everything's coming along nicely!

For a little extra incite, the Taste committees only take about a month (if that) off each year from all things Taste. Bringing together the bands, restaurants, sponsors, etc. takes a lot of time and effort, but seeing 40,000 people downtown and having a ball for the benefit of The Tippecanoe Arts Federation is super rewarding!

Save the date: Saturday, June 16, 2012. Downtown Lafayette is going to be electric.

Production-wise, we wrapped up guitar tracking on the new Arch Drive Goodbye CD last week and I got all of those tracks edited & bounced down. Getting the guys to put down their acoustic guitars and beef-up with my signature Dishaster 4790 amp from Rhodes Amplification is newer territory for them. The songs are pretty rockin'! Now, we're sorting through some vocal parts.

My good buddy Johnny Bhive stopped by IND HQ last week too. I always enjoy being able to sit down and talk shop with other musicians, especially those of Bhive's caliber. Hopefully our schedules will line up for a future collaboration!

Shows, shows, shows...

I made it back down for a Lafayette Live visit last week. I wish I could give a little review, but the show I saw Saturday night at the Knickerbocker with The Melting Pot and The Heavy Company was so sick that I have a little memory loss. The Melting Pot, featuring members of Root Hog and Uncle Buck's Mojo Box, jammed Booker T & The MGs tunes and my boys in The Heavy Company's Midwest Psychedelia was thick and conducive to head bobbing. I may have been toe-tapping a shaking my backside a bit; truly a public outburst for myself. I apologize to anyone that may have witnessed this. :-)

Side note: The Heavy Company guitarist/vocalist Ian Daniel has a pretty sweet Lafayette Shows site up HERE.

On the IND side, we've been jamming more new tunes for the February shows. We'll be at the Animal House on 2/11/12 with The Mound Builders and at Aces Pub on 2/25/12 with Born Under Burden. For more details on these dates and to RSVP, check out the Fan Page. While you're there, consider hitting the 'like' button. :-)

Speaking of the Animal House show, it'll mark the first time in a long time that I'll be cranking my amp up in Frankfort. Jeremy Chambers, bassist for 50/6 Feet, has gotten involved with booking over there and is putting together some awesome shows. Jim Voelz, The Mound Builders' vocalist, and myself plan to sneak into town this Thursday night (2/5/12) to plug the show and jam some tunes at Applebees Open Mic Night. If you start digging for change now, TMB & IND CDs & shirts will be on hand.

Ok, 3 things before I go...

First, Emily Larimer (Chemcoma drummer/vocalist) released an awesome new track over on the Tempest Fare Facebook Page. Check it out!

Second, I'm still trying to move some of my unused gear HERE on Craigslist. If there's room on your credit card or your tax refund is burning a hole in your pocket, shoot my a reply on the listing.

Third, I finally figured out that #FF stands for 'Follow Friday' on Twitter. Yeah, I'm embarrassed. Anyway, if you're hip to Twitter and follow @ChrisJuneIND, I'll hook you up with a Friday mention.

That does it for this week, thanks for stopping in!

I'll see you Frankfort peeps on Thursday!!!

Over and out

01/23/12

Hey all! Have you been bitten by the tax bug yet?

I have!

I've spent quite a bit of time buried in my computer getting everything ready to go and getting my sales tax settled.

Yeah, I like to keep it legit.

I'd feel pretty dumb about speaking my mind about the government and doing my civic duty if I didn't pay up (or if I complained about paying).

Moving on...

It's been a little crazy trying to juggle schedules with the crew over the last couple of months (because of some shift changes with the boys), but we're rolling steadily again and working up some new jams.

This is good, because after a lot of homework & waiting, the show dates are solidifying! For those of you that are weekly readers, 'like' the Fan Page, and/or follow me on Twitter, you'll get a chance to plan ahead and see us 'weapons hot'. It beats those last-minute, pick-up shows, right?

Mark your calendars:

02/11 w/ The Mound Builders in Frankfort at the Animal House
02/25 w/ Born Under Burden in Lafayette at Aces Pub
03/03 w/ lots of other locals in Lafayette at La Parranda for a benefit for a shooting victim and a charity of the Lafayette City Council's choice
04/07 in Frankfort at the Animal House
and finally...
06/16 in Lafayette at the Taste of Tippecanoe

For the rumor mill... I do volunteer for the Taste (lots of people do). I didn't vote myself in. I'm not taking any payment from them. I busted my tail like everyone else on the roster, support the cause 100%, and very honored to participate. :-)

I encourage everyone to get involved with the Tippecanoe Arts Federation and Taste of Tippecanoe. 

Now that I covered that, kudos to all the musicians performing this year. I'm especially ecstatic that these locals will be in the lineup: Little Boxes, Snorb!, Green Room Rockers, The Mound Builders, Kyle Bledsoe, Jeff Anderson, Years, Johnny B Hive, Jason Wells, Space Cadet Vibe, Moonshine Mason and the Rot Gut Gang, Scott Greeson, Michael Kelsey, Joe Peters, Amanda Fletcher, and Hillary Tribbett!

This show is going to be crazy!

I'll have updates on all on all upcoming dates on the Fan Page and the Shows Page as the info comes in. I hope I see you out!

Moving on further...

I finally got my first radio report this week. Good News!

CSCR, KAMP, KAOS, KDHX, KIDE, KKSM, KMUD, KNSU, KPSU, KTSW, KXZY, Radio UTD, WBWC, WHRV, WIDB, WIDR, WIUX, WIXQ, WMCO, WMUC, WMVL, WORT, WPHS, WRHU, WSBU, WUMM, WUOG, and WVAU have added Whistle When We Break Down to their stations’ playlists!

CFMU, CFRE, CILU, KAFM, KANM, KCSC, KEOL, KEUL, KFAI, KGAR, KHNS, KLPI, KMNR, KNDS, KPUR, KQAL, KRNU, KSPU, KSSU, KTCV, KURA, KUWS, KWCR, KWCW, KWLC, KWTS, KWVA, Lasell, Rainy Dawg, VIC Radio , WAMH, WBOR, WCNI, WCUR, WCVF, WDWN, WERU, WGBK, WGMU, WHRW, WICB, WIIT, WIPZ, WKKL, WKWZ, WLVR, WMHB, WMPG, WMUH, WNSU, WOBC, WOJB, WOZQ, WPPJ, WPSC, WPTS, WRDP, WRKC, WRST, WSBF, WSIA, WSIN, WTCC, WWHR, WWSP, WWUH, and WZMB ALREADY HAVE IT IN ROTATION!!!

Much gratitude to all the folks at these stations for giving the tunes air. Also, thanks to the Tinderbox crew for getting the word out about the CD.

I'll keep you in the loop as more reports come in.

Finally...

I've mentioned previously that I'm doing some production/engineering/programming/mixing work on the new Arch Drive Goodbye CD, and we wrapped up rhythm guitar tracks yesterday. We cranked my Rhodes amp, had some laughs, I twisted some arms, and the dudes survived. I can't wait to hear the finished product & I hope they're eager to share it! It's cool they're going into some 'electric' territory.

Well, that does it for this week's update.

As always, thanks for stopping by. For my musician readers, the listing HERE of my music gear has been updated with new toys that I need to liquidate.

I'll catch you next week!

Over and out

01/16/12

Happy MLK Day! Do you have the day off? Not me...

I met most of the Lafayette Music Scene last Monday night at the City Council meeting to speak out against the proposed entertainment ordinance. Good news: the ordinance was tabled! You can find more info HERE. Check out the chump in the bottom right corner of the picture. :-)

Drew & I jammed out some newer tunes (newer to the acoustic set, that is) Wednesday night at Lafayette Live. It was great to make new friends & have some dudes join us on the last song!

Here's the set:

"My Rx"
"Guilt that Keeps on Giving"
"No Second Chance" - Adrenaline cover
"Amputee" - Oceansize cover

I ended the music week by stopping by the Hoot Night show at the Lafayette Brewing Company. The Moundbuilders, Threat Level, and I-Exist threw it down!

Highlights included loud tube amps, lots of rocking, and adult drinks. Buddy from I-Exist is also a Rhodes Amplification artist and we spent some time chumming with Mr. Rhodes himself.

If you get a chance, ask Buddy why he was rocking a Tele that night. :-)

Coming up soon...

February 25th the IND crew will be joining forces with Born Under Burden at Aces Pub in Lafayette for a night of loud rock tune-age. RSVP/Show Info HERE.

Audiokult Radio will be rockin' Whistle When We Break Down in the near future.

Finally, I'm selling some gear that I haven't been using. If you need some new toys, are looking for a screaming deal, or would like to contribute to the student loan fund, I have the stuff listed HERE.

That's does it for the weekly update. Thanks for stopping by!

Over and out

01/09/12

Hey all!

Last week started out great! I started off by picking up my younger brother from the airport and getting him back home for the first time since he left for Afghanistan.

As the week progressed, I picked up a few unplugged shows to get out and play. Plus, this was the first time that all 3 of us bros got to hang at the shows. *That rhymed*

Drew tagged along too and kept the low-end solid.

First up was a short set at Lafayette Live on Wednesday night.

Here's the set:

"Out of Our Hands"
"Settling"
"Pocket & Soul"
"Before it Gets to Me"
"Zzyzx Rd" - Stone Sour cover

Side note: I'll be back at the Theater this Wednesday (1/11) to do another set. All the details are listed on the Shows Calendar. I hope to see you out!

My slot last week was right after my buddies Arch Drive Goodbye. We have a blast with those dudes, so Drew & I teamed up with them for 2 more extended sets at Java Roaster and Uncorked on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Here's the set (Yeah, yeah, cliche rock n' roll trick of playing the same set...):

"Settling"
"Guilt that Keeps on Giving"
"Something Else is Something More" - Adrenaline cover
"Dear Reason"
"Amputee" - Oceansize cover
"Before it Gets to Me"
"My Rx"
"Out of Our Hands"
"Pocket and Soul"

Since most of those tunes are pretty serious, we mixed it up by throwing in covers of Chef songs too. :-)

Thanks to everyone that came out, IT WAS A BLAST!!!

Switching gears to a more serious topic, the Lafayette Music Community was tipped off to the City Council's attempt to pass an ordinance to make promoters/venues/artists apply for permits to have shows in town. You can find info HERE and HERE.

The Lafayette Music Club has mobilized on Facebook in an effort to get this blocked. Please join up!

The City Council was supposed to consider the ordinance tonight at Lafayette City Hall (20 North 6th Street, Lafayette, IN) at 7pm. Though the 'consideration' is being delayed, we still plan to attend tonight's meeting.

That does it for this week's update.

Before I jet, kudos to all my new 'like-rs' on the Fan Page. Also, if you hip to picking up my music digitally from iTunes and Amazon, you only have until February 6th to download "Settling."

Thanks for stopping by!

Over an out

01/03/12

Happy 2012!

Some of you had yesterday off, and, for the most part, I did too. My younger brother flew into the state after being gone most of last year in Afghanistan, so I spent some time catching up.

Instead of doing the normal thing of talking about new songs, how cool Lafayette Live was last week, or shows in the works, I’m going to take a few minutes to do some legit blogging & actually share some useful info…

Several of my music buddies have asked me some music theory-related questions (a lot of my songs are sounding the same, I need to branch out, any pointers?)...

So I’ll touch on some ‘keys’ with you.

My guitars are tuned to ‘Drop C’: all strings tuned a whole step down, with the 6^th string tuned another whole step down (CGCFAD).

Side note: I refer to notes as if they’re in standard tuning with a *, the * meaning relative to a step down. For example, if you’re a whole step down & I said, “Play a C Major,” you’re likely to play a C Major chord shape, not a D Major Chord shape. The C shape you’re playing would be a Bb in reality, the D would be C Major. See how this could get confusing?

Since having the open low string to chug on is important to meaner music and/or drop-D tuning, there are 7 traditional major keys (plus their relative minors) that’ll give you a D note (open 6^th string). For the most part, I start in these & go beyond them as necessary.

D Major*:  D  E  F# G  A  B  C# D

C Major*:  C  D  E  F  G  A  B  C

Bb Major*: Bb C  D  Eb F  G  A  Bb

A Major*:  A  B  C# D  E  F# G# A

G Major*:  G  A  B  C  D  E  F# G

F Major*:  F  G  A  Bb C  D  E  F 
Eb Major*: Eb F  G  Ab Bb C  D  Eb

Here's a .jpg diagram of what the first 7 frets of your guitar neck will look like in these keys. You should be able to right-click it, save, print, etc.

Remember, you can build any major key following the interval formula: Whole, Whole, Half, Whole, Whole, Whole, Half.

Start with the root note & add notes up in that order. (B to C & E to F are half step changes).

If it helps, here’s an octave of all 12 notes from A to A. The bold notes are the white keys on a piano, the normal print would be the black keys.

A - A#/Bb - B - C - C#/Db - D -  D#/Eb - E - F - F#/Gb - G - G#/Ab - A

While I’m at it, don’t scoop your mids or turn your amp’s gain all the way up! :-)

I hope this helps!

That does it for this week. Thanks for stopping in!

Since Facebook decided to be a pain last week & prevented me from posting links for the 2011 Recap, you can find it HERE.

Over and out

2011 Recap

Here’s the last blog for the year. Was your year awesome? Is your holiday going well?!

I hope so!

As promised, here’s the 2011 recap. I’ll do my best to make this flow. Some of the time boundaries are a little gray. :-)

Apologies in advance if I forgot anything or anyone

I started off 2011 as someone that, in the previous 2 years, went from losing his day job to being a college graduate to still not being able to find a new job. By January, I had already started giving guitar lessons on the side to stay afloat and had committed myself to spending the year proving that either music would or wouldn’t work out as a career...

Plus, I was going into new territory with this whole ‘blog’ thing.

On Chemcoma’s end, things were looking up. We were still celebrating our 5-year anniversary, released “Something to Die for” (and its accompanying video), and kept playing shows. The 5-year buzz wore off, though, and we ended up playing our final show around the beginning of July. For the record, we’re all still friends and chat on occasion. So, hopefully the break-up buzz wore off too!

Before the Chemcoma break, I had already launched the IND project on the side in an effort to put food in the dogs’ bowls. I managed to design and launch ChrisJuneIND.com (regardless of the quality, it’s my first site & I’m proud of doing it) and finished up the writing/recording/mixing/mastering of “Settling.” By March, some cell camera/iMovie experimenting led to the upload of the “Settling” video.

I followed that up with the re-tweaking of my song “Dear Reason” and its release/video in May and continued testing out playing shows by myself. The singer/songwriter/unplugged format isn’t my ‘thing’ or strength, but I chose to play in some capacity instead of not at all. Since I was used to playing to a click while recording and performing live, I built accompanying piano tracks and jammed tunes at open mics and as an opening act for other regional bands. I was even given the opportunity to play at a benefit for the Home with Hope!

This process has helped me in overcoming some vocal and interaction inhibitions and paved the way for sponsorships (Artisan Electric, DropYa Fightwear, ISPhotographic, Lafayette Speaker Repair, People’s Brewing Co., Rhodes Amplification, Sacred Apple, Sound Logic Recording, and Willow Stained Glass).

Some good local press came my way too!

While the unplugged gigs were (and still are) a lot of fun, the side of me that wanted to sling the Tele low & crank my amp was getting ignored. After finishing up my 'annual volunteering' for the Tippecanoe Arts Federation (with a successful, off-the-hook Taste of Tippecanoe), I found Chris Parker and Drew Luigs between July and August and got them on board.

It should be noted that it was quite a surprise to be able to put those pieces in place so quickly. While Lafayette is an insanely talented town, the free agent market is a bit dry. Most dudes are already locked up in other bands. Also, kudos to Dinger (from The Mound Builders) for making himself available and jamming with me during that time. It was a confidence boost knowing that I’d be able to move ‘the rock’ forward in some capacity. You = the man.

While Chris, Drew, and I started putting together the 2011 Fall shows, I was wrapping up the recording of Whistle When We Break Down. Because the band-side was going well, I got a little more ambitious. Instead of doing another indie/in-house release, I pulled the trigger on getting those tracks to Grant Mohrman (Method House Studios) for mixing. Grant and I have a 10+ year relationship (no homo) and that cat makes my tunes go boom. His work, in my opinion, has been crucial to any success I’ve had in the past; radio, licensing, etc.

As Grant was mixing the EP in Detroit, my buddy Chris Voglund helped me get some side work running sound at local shows; leading to volunteer work for the Food Finders/Feeding America’s Zombaid benefit too.

As mixing wrapped, Chris June IND went loud and live with an opening night that saw us headlining both HomegrownBiker.com’s Monster Halloween Party and LafayetteMetal.com’s Halloween Show. The boys started jamming open mics with me, which led to a stripped-down set at the Knickerbocker for my birthday.

With the Method House touch on Whistle When We Break Down and hard copies in my hand, I assembled a merch display to push CDs and shirts at shows; even selling them out of my trunk and delivering across town (and the state) when necessary.

Jon Delange at Tinderbox Music got busy by executing the plan to push the envelope even more; getting the tracks on college radio playlists nation-wide and into the hands of some big television network music coordinators. Some of the tunes were starting to get some spins on other indie and internet stations too. Even more online push resulted when I launched the indie video for “Out of Our Hands” earlier this month!

Finally, before Christmas, I squeezed in some production work for the dudes in Arch Drive Goodbye for their holiday track, “Ghost of Christmas Past.”

2011 began with me being a singing guitarist in a semi-successful regional band, striving to be the best husband and pops to the pups, and doing everything possible to be a good mentor to my guitar students and my little brothers (btw, the USMC got Jordan to and from Afghanistan safely and Joey graduated high school, started college, and is continuing his musical journey).

I’m wrapping up the year as a solo artist and an amateur web designer, graphic designer, videographer, blogger, producer, recording/mixing/sound engineer, etc. I’ve been able to volunteer for great local causes and my music is sponsored by 9 great Indiana Small businesses. Also, this blog has gone from averaging 6-8 views to as much as 200 per month, my videos have surpassed 1500 views, and the Fan Page ‘likes’ continue to grow too. So, here’s to doubling that for next year!

So, 2012 me, you’re on notice: you better kick 2011 me’s ass, dude.

Thanks to my family, the IND crew, friends, my students, their parents, all contributors to the Lafayette scene, Grant, and Jon.

This would’ve been hard to pull off without your help.

Last, but not least, thanks to you for stopping by every week!

Whether you check this out to gather the scene scoop, get ideas to help push your music, or to casually see what I’m up to, I’m glad you’re involved.

If you’re not doing so already, please use the recap as motivation to catch more local shows, buy more local music, and volunteer for local causes. As a good friend says, "We all come up together."

Let’s have an awesome 2012!!!

PS: Kudos to Born Under Burden, Echovox, The Enders, Lorenguard, Mike Reeb, Snorb!, and The Mound Builders for putting out awesome CDs this year. I’m looking forward to new stuff from you, 9LB Gun, 50/6 Feet, Arch Drive Goodbye, Go Go Gadget Gonads, the Heavy Company, the Shake Ups, and the other Lafayette Music dudes!!!

Over and out

12/19/11

Hey all! Apologies for sacrificing the blog last week. I had more things on the 'to do' list than I could pull off.

The funny thing is, last week was the 1 year anniversary of my first 'test, test' blog post.

So, let's chat about what happened...

The "Out of Our Hands" video is done! 

The goal for this one was to be a lot more frantic than the others. With the split-screen action & clips rotating every 2 seconds, I think that part was a success.

Theme-wise, the video is a lot like a normal day for me; cut with performance shots of singing and playing guitar. It shows most things I do to be able to go out and jam at night: It's not the glamorous 'drinking & playing guitar all day' situation. Well, at least not for this guy...

Kudos to those who have 'liked' it, left comments, & shared it through your personal pages. It means a lot to me!!!

PS: For my Spotify-using readers, you can stream the Whistle When We Break Down jams HERE.

Moving on...

I got out and jammed twice last week!

First, Wednesday night at Lafayette Live was a blast. I'm hip to share the stage with Evan Ryan, Hillary Tribbett, and Lindsey Sickler anytime!

Drew's ok too. :-)

It's a lot more fun when he plays the tunes with me.

Here's the set:

"Pocket and Soul"
"Before it Gets to Me"
"Bed Intruder" - Auto-tune the News cover
"Out of Our Hands"

Thursday night I rolled-solo to Jason Wells' Open Mic at Applebee's in Frankfort.

Here's the set:

"Pocket and Soul"
"My Rx"
"Before it Gets to Me"
"Settling"
"Out of Our Hands"
---------
"Something Else is Something More"
"Dear Reason"
"Faithfully" - Journey cover

I joined Mr. Wells on Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" and several blues-y jams too!

Saturday, I got the IND gang together. We've been busy picking up new tunes for the 2012 shows.

After wrapping up, I stopped by my little bro's show to catch him pummel the crowd with the Thor crew. Churches and All-Ages shows typically aren't my bag, but I couldn't miss it. Those dudes have a crazy amount of talent and Joey's got pipes...

On Sunday I helped out my buddies in Arch Drive Goodbye with a holiday tune they're doing. I haven't gotten into a lot of programming recently, so it was fun to bust some of that out. It's like R. Kelly without the pee... maybe a little whiter too.

Also, those dudes are putting me on the payroll for their new CD project for early 2012. It should be a lot of fun!

Thanks for stopping by! I'm off to tie-up some loose biz ends so I can keep learning new IND tunes, wrap up 2011 accounting(tax time is around the corner), and get started on the 2011 blog recap.

Have a great week!!

Over and out